From success to insights – January 2025

SEO rarely brings overnight success. Our January shows how planning ahead and attention to detail pay off: timely content can bring large amounts of organic traffic, and a small detail such as an outdated link in Google Business Profile can distort your reports for months.

Case 1: Can real-time marketing bring results in SEO?

Challenge

The client is in the automotive industry and runs a blog about local travel. How can seasonal, real-time marketing fit that niche? December offered many topics; we chose a guide to one of Poland’s largest city Christmas markets, which fits both travel and driving there.

Actions

• Planned ahead so the guide was published and indexed before searches peaked.
• Answered every practical question visitors ask: location, opening days and hours, how to get there, where to park, nearby hotels, what to see and eat.
• Added context: the history of the market and what makes it special.
• Structured it for scanning: headings for each question, lists and key facts at the top.

The result was a comprehensive guide of about 27,000 characters. Its length wasn’t the goal; it came from covering every question a visitor might have.

Results

Metric	Result
Views	220,000
Clicks	2,780
Position in domain	Most-viewed landing page in that period; most-viewed page of the quarter excluding the homepage; third-highest traffic article overall

Insight

Build seasonal events into your content plan. Publish early, answer practical questions in detail and update the guide every year with current dates and prices; a refreshed guide can earn traffic again each season. Fresh, specific content is also what AI assistants prefer to cite: pages cited by AI assistants are on average 25.7% fresher than organic results. See content decay and topical authority.

Case 2: Why was an HTTP version receiving organic clicks despite 301 redirects?

Challenge

During a routine check, external tools kept showing clicks on HTTP URLs. That was unexpected: every HTTP URL redirected (301) to the HTTPS, non-www version. Search Console showed:

• no indexed HTTP pages;
• 373 HTTP URLs discovered, none indexed, all redirected to HTTPS;
• about 1,000 organic clicks on HTTP URLs in the last three months, evenly spread over time, suggesting a systematic source.

Diagnosis

Most of the queries were local: “brand name + city” or “service + city”. That pointed to the client’s local Google Business Profiles. The website links in these profiles used http:// instead of https://. Users still reached the right page thanks to the redirects, but the click was recorded on the HTTP URL, making it look as if the HTTP version still received organic traffic. Redirects pass users and signals to the new URL, but they don’t change the URL people clicked.

Actions

1. Updated every Google Business Profile link to the correct HTTPS URL.
2. Added UTM parameters to each profile link, so traffic from the profiles can be identified in analytics.
3. Checked canonical tags on the landing pages, pointing to the URL without parameters, so tagged URLs don’t create duplicate pages.

Results

• Profile clicks are now recorded on the HTTPS URLs, so reports no longer show phantom HTTP traffic.
• Traffic from Google Business Profile can be separated from other organic traffic in GA4.
• More reliable data for local SEO decisions.

Insight

When a redirected URL still shows clicks, look for external links that point to the old version: business profiles, directories, social bios, email signatures and partner sites. Update them at the source. For tracking, tag Google Business Profile links with UTM parameters. See technical SEO audit and analytics audits.

How to tag Google Business Profile links with UTM parameters

Example:

https://example.com/location/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=business_profile

Parameter	Value	Meaning
utm_source	google	The platform that sent the visit
utm_medium	organic	The channel; keeps the visit in organic search in GA4
utm_campaign	business_profile	Our internal name for Google Business Profile links; use one consistent name across all locations
utm_content (optional)	e.g. warsaw-centre	Identifies the location, if you have several profiles

Campaign names are free-form; what matters is using them consistently. In GA4, these visits appear as google / organic, with the campaign showing they came from your profile. See Google’s guide to URL builders and UTM parameters.

FAQ

Why does Search Console show clicks on HTTP pages that redirect to HTTPS?

Usually because external links, such as Google Business Profile website links, still point to http://. Users are redirected, but the click is recorded on the URL in the link. Update the links at the source.

Should I use UTM parameters in Google Business Profile?

Yes, if you want to separate profile traffic from other organic traffic. Use utm_medium=organic and a consistent campaign name, and make sure the landing page has a canonical tag pointing to the URL without parameters.

Does seasonal content work for SEO?

Yes, if it’s published before searches peak, answers practical questions in detail and is updated each year. It can bring large traffic spikes and long-term links.

Sources

• Google Search Central: Redirects and Google Search
• Google Search Central: Consolidate duplicate URLs (canonicals)
• Google Analytics Help: URL builders and UTM parameters
• Google Search Central: Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content
• Ahrefs: Do AI assistants prefer to cite fresh content? (2025)